Automatic entrance with sliding doors

ABSTRACT

1,009,389. Door operating appliances; sliding doors; hangers; hinges. DOR-WEST Inc. Oct. 17, 1963 [Nov. 19, 1962], No. 41006/63. Headings E1J, E2F and E2M. An entrance is closed by a sliding door or doors supported by carriages running on an overhead track and automatically power operated when a person enters or leaves a traffic area including the entrance, and each door comprises a frame to which is hinged a wicket door arranged to swing outwardly to form an emergency exit. A door assembly 26 supported by carriages 31 running on a track 30 in a head recess 27 extending over the doorway and pockets 25 is moved into and out of the pockets 25 by an arm 34 and link 35 driven by an hydraulic motor 33 accommodated within the pocket 25. The door comprises an L-shaped frame with a header 47 and a joint part 48. A door having top and bottom rails 54-55, and stiles 52-53 with a glass panel 50 is hinged to the joint part 48 by a hinge, Fig. 7, comprising two sets of leaves 56, 56&lt;SP&gt;1&lt;/SP&gt; pivoted together at 57. One end of each set is pivoted to a butt block 58, 59 on the door stile or from joint 48 respectively, and the other end of each set has pins 62, 63 sliding in slots in the butt blocks. The header part 47 of the sliding frame has a tongue 66 and groove, Fig. 2, co-operating with a tongue 65 and groove on the top rail 54 of the wicket door to carry its weight when the door is held in closed position by a bullet catch 67. In a modification, Fig. 9, one of a pair of doors is operated by an hydraulic motor, and the other door is operated by cables 140 extending from carriages 132, 133, 134, 135 round pulleys 137, 138 in the head recess 27. In this embodiment the carriages have single wheels running on a rib type rail, Fig. 10, not shown, and carry non-rise rollers. The hydraulic motor or motors are set in motion by electrical switches operated by the depression of carpets 41-42 on either side of the doorway, which set in motion a motor driving a pump in a closed hydraulic circuit with a reservoir and the operating motor.

June 9, 1964 R. E. DIMMITT ETAL 3,136,538

AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE WITH SLIDING DOORS Filed Nov. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet1 INVENTORS ROBERT E. own/r7 Clue/.55 KESSA/EK BY June 9, 1964 R. E.DlMMlTT ETAL Filed Nov. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 n z 1,, M 5714M} 42 Amxwkx 4- INVENTORS ROBE/PT 5. DIMM 77'' CHARLES KESSA/EK June 9, 1964 R.E. DlMMlTT ETAL 3,136,538

AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE WITH SLIDING DOORS Filed Nov. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet5 V REL PUMP L-xssmkm 7 N0. M0. 1 40 r 4 1 T I J INVENTORSS KOBEET ED/MM/TT' CHHKLES KESSNEK BY M?% June 9, 1964 R. E. DlMMlTT ETAL3,136,538

AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE WITH SLIDING DOORS Filed Nov. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet4 INVENTOR5= ROBERT E- o/MM/ T7 cH/mL E5 KESS/VER ATTIS June 9, 1964 R.E. DlMMlTT ETAL 3,136,533

AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE WITH SLIDING-DOORS Filed Nov. 19, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet5 Ill mo I Z INVENTORS EOBER 7" E D/N/V/TT' 2 f-h-rysa.

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United States Patent 3,136,538 AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE WITH SLIDING DOORSRobert E. Dimmitt and Charles Kessner, Seattle, Wash,

assignors to Dot-West, Inc., Seattle, Wash, a corporation of WashingtonFiled Nov. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 238,478 15 Claims. (Cl. 268-39) Thisinvention relates to an automatic entrance, and namely an entranceclosed by a door which opens and closes automatically to accommodateindividuals using the entrance. The general object of the preesntinvention is to perfect an automatic entrance of the type in which asliding door closes the entrance opening and one, more especially, inwhich the slide-mounted door also admits of being swung manually from aclosed to an open position so as to meet building and fire codes whichrequire that an automatic entrance serve as an emergency exit in case ofa power failure.

A particular object of the present invention is to provide an automaticentrance of the above character in which the door is comprised of twonormally co-planar sections one of which receives a slide mounting inthe doorway and the other of which is hinged to the slidably mountedsection for swing motion independently of the latter and slide motion inconcert therewith.

Another object ancillary to the above is to provide an automaticentrance of the character described in which the slidably mountedsection has an inverted-L configuration with the vertical leg of said Lbordering the back edge and the horizontal leg of said L bordering thetop edge of the swing section, and wherein said horizontal leg interfitswith the swing section and sustains the swing section when the twosections occupy their normal coplanar position.

The above andother objects and advantages looking to the provision 'ofan automatic entrance which can be economically manufactured, whichinsures smooth, quiet, and trouble-free performance with low maintenancecosts, and which provides an unrestricted hazard-free opening fortraffic moving in either direction through the entrance,

.will appear and be understood in the course of the followinvention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view drawn to anenlarged scale on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a similarly enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view online 3-3of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view drawn to anenlarged scale on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3 to detail the hinge structurewhich we prefer to employ.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view on line 66 ofFIG. 5. 7

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on line 77 of FIG. 5and indicating the hinge elements in the positions occupied when thedoor is swung into an open position at right angles to its jamb.

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the electric and hydrauliccircuits used in the present invention.

ICC

view drawn to an enlarged scale on line 1010 of FIG. 9;

' and FIG. 11 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on line 1111 ofFIG. 9, employing the same scale as that border frames for each of thetwo jambs 20 and the lintel 21 which define these passageways. Theborder frames are or may be fabricated from aluminum extrusions and aredesignated by 22 in the instance of the jamb frames and by 23 in theinstance of the lintel frames.

The space between said passageways serves as the doorway proper, andwill be hereinafter so termed. Such doorway communicates at one or bothof its sides with a wall pocket 25 into and from which the door assembly26 is arranged to be slidably moved.

More particularly, the invention employs either a singletraverse-mounted door assembly extending the full width of the entranceopening, in which event only one such pocket is provided, or a pair ofin-line door assemblies are employed with each such assembly having awidth approximating one half the width of the entrance opening, in whichevent a pocket is provided at each of the two sides of the entrance. Thelatter arrangement is illustrated in the drawings. While FIG. 4 showsone of the two doors closed and the other open, this is only forillustration purposes as the two work in concert.

Both the doorway and the wall pockets 25 are prolonged upwardly toproduce a head recess 27. An overhead track 30 is supported in suchrecess, occupying a position on the longitudinal median line andextending substantially the full length thereof, and riding on thistrack are wheeled 'carriages 31 from which the door assemblies 26 aresuspended. Respective sets of rollers 28 journaled to turn aboutvertical axes are housed in the pockets and bear coupled doorsillustrated in FIGS. 9 through 11.

Each hydraulic motor imparts reciprocal swing motion to a crank arm 34,and a connecting rod 35 links the free end of such crank arm to afitting 36 boltably secured to the back edge of the related doorassembly. A positivedisplacement pump 38 operates the hydraulic motor ormotors and, with the motor, is contained in a closed hydraulic circuitincluding a reservoir 40. Such pump with associated electric devices arelocated by preference in a covered well 37 which underlies the doorwayand the passageways. The cover for the well includes electric carpets 41and 42 extending in both directions from a central threshold 39. Thereferred-to electric devices comprise normally open switches. 43 and 44closed in response to a depressive movement of the carpets and connectedwith normally closed micro-switches 45 in a DC. electric circuitcontrolling the energizing of an electric motor 46 which drives the pump38. a

The modified construction shown in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 has the wheels ofits carriages tracking on a ribtype rail 131 which is boltably attachedboth to the end walls and to a side wall of the recess 27. Two of saidcarriages, as 132-133 and 134-135, surmount each of the door assemblies,being spaced apart longitudinally thereof, and in addition to the wheels130 each carriage supports a non-rise roller 136. At each of the twoends of the recess a respective pulley, as 137 and 138, is journaled forrotation about a transverse horizontal axis, and trained about thesepulleys is a cable 140. Carriage 133 presents a laterally projectingupper bracket 141, and carriage 134 presents a laterally projectinglower bracket 142. The upper run of the cable. is anchored to bracket141, and the lower run of the cable is anchored to bracket 142.

The door assemblies are comprised of a door proper and a mounting framefor the door. The mounting frame has an inverted-L configuration. Oneleg 47 of the two legs which are thereby provided overlies the top edgeof the door section and will be hereinafter termed a header. The otherleg 48 overlies the back edge of the door section and will behereinafter termed a jamb. The wheeled carriages are bolted, as at 49,to the header. The fitting 36 for the connecting rod 35 is bolted orotherwise rigidly secured to the back face of the jamb. The door sectionis comprised of a glass panel 50 fixed by glazing beads 51 in a framecomposed of front and back stiles 52-53 and top and bottom rails 5455.Both the door section and the mounting section are fabricated, bypreference, from aluminum extrusions.

The back stile 52 is connected to the jamb 48 by concealed hinges whichpermit the door section to swing in an outward direction, doorwayconsidered. Illustrated and described in US. Patent'No. 3,001,224,issued September 26, 1961, the hinge which we prefer to employ is aproduct of H. Soss & Co., Los Angeles, Calif, and is characterized inthat each of two sets of leaves 56 and 56' connect by a vertical pivotpin 57 at a point intermediate their lengths, have one end of eachrooted to a respective one of two butt-blocks 58 and 59 by verticalpivot pins 60 and 61, and have their other ends slidably attached to theother butt-block by vertical pins 62 and 63 working in longitudinalgrooves 64 cut in the blocks. The hinge leaves are wholly containedwithin recesses cutin the blocks.

The top rail 54 of the door section, and the header 47 .of the mountingframe, each interfit by means of a tonguethan the depths of the groovesso as, when interfitted, to

permit a co-planar relationship between the door section and itsmounting section. A bullet catch positioned adjacent the free edge ofthe door localizes the two sections .in this co-planar relationship, theball component 67 of the catch being carried by the head rail 54 andlodging in a registering hole piercing the tongue 66 of the header 47.The diameter of the ball slightly exceeds the width of the groove, andis urged upwardly by a moderately strong spring 68. Other than for abevel 70 adjacent the respective free edge, both the lower face of thetongue 65 and the upper face of the tongue 66 occupy a horizontal plane.When interfitted the tongue 65 rests upon the tongue 66 so as to besupported thereby. To all intents and purposes the carriages thusdirectly support the swing sections of the doors when such swingsections occupy their normal positions co-planar with the mountingframes.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that We have provided a doorwhich opens and closes automatically,

with the movement being a sliding action in a plane at substantial rightangles to the general path travelled by a person moving through thedoorway. The doors slide smoothly and quietly into the wall pockets andprovide an unrestricted opening for traffic moving in either direction.The hazards of swinging doors are completely eliminated, as are theguard rails, barrier ropes, etc., which have been required with swingingdoors in order to separate and out traffic. There is also no need for aduplication of power equipment which separately operated doorsnecessarily require. Should there be a power failure the sliding doorsof the present invention can be swung open 4, upon their hinges byexertion of sufficient pressure to disengage the bullet catch. Thesystem meets building codes which require entrance doors to serve asemergency exits.

It is believed that the invention will have been clearly understoodfromthe foregoing detailed description of our now-preferred illustratedembodiments. Changes in the details of construction may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit of the invention and it is accordinglyour intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexedclaims be given the broadest interpretation to which. the employedlanguage fairly admits.

What we claim-is:

1. In an automatic entrance, an overhead horizontal track extendingtransversely of the entrance opening, a traverse frame formed generallyto an inverted L configuration to provide a horizontal bar at the topand a vertical bar rigidly fixed with the horizontal bar and dependingfrom one end of the latter, a carriage riding on the track and havingthe horizontal bar of the frame suspended therefrom so that saidhorizontal bar underlies the track and the frame slides into and out ofthe en trance opening asthe carriage moves reciprocally along the trackbetween two prescribed limits of travel, a door for the entrance openinghinged to the frame for swing movement into and out of a normal positionco-planar with the frame about an axis which is fixedly related to theframe in a position proximal to and parallel with the vertical bar ofthe frame, and power means having operative interconnection with theframe operated automatically. by the act of a person entering andleaving an established traflic zone including said entrance opening forrespectively sliding the frame and door out of and into a positionclosing said opening. 7

2. Structure according to claim 1 in which the door and the horizontalbar of the frame each provides a respective one of two interacting meansproducing a releasable couple which holds the door in said normalposition co-planar with the frame and characterized in that the coupleis established automatically as the door reaches a condition co-planarwith the frame in course of swinging the door from an open to a closedposition.

3. Structure according to claim 1 having a pair of guide rollersjournaled for rotation about fixed vertical axes in positions such thatwhen the door is slid into closed position one of said rollers bearsagainst one face and the other roller against the opposite face of thevertical bar of the frame on a level elevated a moderate distance abovethe bottom end of said bar, the door and said vertical bar of the framehaving a corresponding width, measured on the level which is occupied bythe rollers, so that the rollers will also bear upon the door as thelatter slides out of and into the entrance opening.

4. In an automatic entrance, an overhead track extending transversely ofthe entrance opening, a carriage riding on said track, a traverse framecarried by the carriage for slide movement in a vertical slide planeinto and out of said opening, said frame providing a header and alsoproviding a jamb rigidly fixed with and depending from one end of theheader, a door for the entrance opening hinged to the jamb so as toslide with the frame and yet permit the door, by pressure of a personpushing against the same when it occupies said entrance opening, to beswung about a vertical axis out of a normal position co-planar with theframe and thereby provide for emergency passage through said entranceopening, and power means having operative interconnection with the frameoperated automatically by the act of a person en-. tering and leaving anestablished traffic zone including said entrance opening forrespectively sliding the frame anddoor out of and into a positionclosing said opening, means being provided normally holding the door insaid co-planar position andreleasable automatically by said pressure ofa person pushing against the door, the hinging of the door being suchthat the door is held against vertical movement relative to the frameWhile said doorholding means is being released.

5. Structure according to claim 4, said door-holding means comprising abullet catch having its components carried by the door and by theheader.

6. An automatic entrance according to claim 4 in which the frame anddoor have a corresponding width so as to lie flush one with the otherwhen in their co-planar relationship, said frame and door in their slidemovement out of the entrance opening occupying a wall pocket which isprovided at one side of said opening and connects therewith by a slotonly moderately wider than said width of the frame and door, the trackbeing concealed within an overhead recess communicating with both theentrance opening and the wall pocket.

7. The automatic entrance of claim 4 in which the hinges for the doorare concealed and provide a substantially unbroken flush relationship asbetween the door and the jamb upon both faces thereof.

8. The automatic entrance of claim 4, interfitting hori- Zontal meansbeing provided by the door and by the header made to connectautomatically when the door swings about its hinge axis from saidemergency open position into said normal position co-planar with theframe and by such connection suspending the weight of the door directlyfrom the header.

9. The automatic entrance of claim 8, said interfitting means beingtongue-and-groove.

10. The automatic entrance of claim 8, said connecting means comprisinggrooves, one provided by the header and one by the door, which are infacing relation and vertically offset, one groove from the other groove,so that the lower wall of the headers groove becomes a tongueregistering and having a mating interfit with the groove of the doorwhile the upper wall of the doors groove likewise becomes a tongueregistering and having a mating interfit with the groove of the header,the mating interfit of said tongues and grooves providing a Weatherseal, said interfitting tongues and grooves extending the full length ofthe door when the door occupies its normal position co-planar with theframe.

11. In an automatic entrance, an overhead track extending transverselyof the entrance opening, a pair of carriages riding on said track, arespective traverse frame carried by each of said carriages, said framebeing formed to an inverted L configuration to have the horizontal leglie at the top to serve as a header and the vertical leg dependtherefrom to serve as a jamb, the header underlying the track and beingrigidly connected with the related carriage, the jamb being rigidlyfixed with the concerned header and lying at the end thereof distal tothe other header, a pair of doors for the entrance opening each hingedto a. respective one of the two jambs for emergency swing movement ofthe doors, when the doors occupy the entrance opening, about verticalaxes out of normal positions -co-planar with the frames, means normallyholding the doors in said co-planar positions and releasableautomatically by pressure of a person pushing against the doors, powermeans operatively interconnected with one of said frames operatedautomatically as a person enters and leaves the entrance for slidingsaid frame and its co-planar door out of and into the opening,respectively, and interconnecting means between the other frame and saidframe to which the power means is connected causing the two frames withtheir co-planar doors to move oppositely out of and into the opening inconcert, the hinging of the door being such that the door is heldagainst vertical movement relative to the frame while said door-holdingmeans is being released.

12. The automatic entrance of claim 11 having guide I rollers journalledfor rotation about fixed vertical axes in positions adjacent the floorlevel of the entrance opening and such that said rollers bear againstopposite faces of the jambs when the doors occupy their closed position,the doors being flush with the jambs so that the rollers also bearagainst the doors as the latter slide out of and into the entranceopening.

13. Structure according to claim 11, said interconnecting means betweenthe frames comprising an endless cable trained about two pulleys onelocated at one end limit and the other at the other end limit of thetrack and having one run of the cable anchored within its length to thecarriage which carries one of the frames and having the other run of thecable anchored within its length to the carriage which carries the otherframe.

14. In an automatic entrance, an overhead track extending transverselyof the entrance opening, a carriage riding on said track, a traverseframe hung from said carriage, said frame including a header whichgenerally parallels the transverse vertical plane occupied by the trackand said frame including a vertical depending jamb which is rigidlyfixed to said header, a door for the entrance openinghinged to the framefor swing movement outwardly about a vertical axis between a normalposition in which the door is co-planar with the header and an emergencyposition approximately normal thereto, interfitting means provided bythe header and the door caused to be engaged and disengagedautomatically by the act of swinging the door into and out of saidco-planar position, respectively, and by said engagement supporting thedoor directly, from the header at all times when the door occupies saidco-planar position and by said support relieving the hinges of theweight of the door, and power means having operative interconnectionwith said frame operated automatically by the act of a person enteringand leaving an established trafiic zone including said entrance openingfor respectively sliding the frame and door out of and into a positionclosing said opening, said interfitting means being characterized inthat the component thereof which is provided by the door is disengagedfrom the component thereof which is provided by the frame automaticallyin response to force exerted by a person pressing against the door in adirection to swing the same outwardly about its hinge axis, means beingprovided normally holding the door in said co-planar position andreleasable automatically by said pressure of a person pushing againstthe door, the hinging of the door being such that the door is heldagainst vertical movement relative to the frame while said door-holdingmeans is being released.

15. The automatic entrance of claim 14 in which the interfitting meanscomprises a tongue and a mating groove.

1 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Boppet al Apr. 10,

1. IN AN AUTOMATIC ENTRANCE, AN OVERHEAD HORIZONTAL TRACK EXTENDINGTRANSVERSELY OF THE ENTRANCE OPENING, A TRAVERSE FRAME FORMED GENERALLYTO AN INVERTED L CONFIGURATION TO PROVIDE A HORIZONTAL BAR AT THE TOPAND A VERTICAL BAR RIGIDLY FIXED WITH THE HORIZONTAL BAR AND DEPENDINGFROM ONE END OF THE LATTER, A CARRIAGE RIDING ON THE TRACK AND HAVINGTHE HORIZONTAL BAR OF THE FRAME SUSPENDED THEREFROM SO THAT SAIDHORIZONTAL BAR UNDERLIES THE TRACK AND THE FRAME SLIDES INTO AND OUT OFTHE ENTRANCE OPENING AS THE CARRIAGE MOVES RECIPROCALLY ALONG THE TRACKBETWEEN TWO PRESCRIBED LIMITS OF TRAVEL, A DOOR FOR THE ENTRANCE OPENINGHINGED TO THE FRAME FOR SWING MOVEMENT INTO AND OUT OF A NORMAL POSITIONCO-PLANAR WITH THE FRAME ABOUT AN AXIS WHICH IS FIXEDLY RELATED TO THEFRAME IN A POSITION PROXIMAL TO AND PARALLEL WITH THE VERTICAL BAR OFTHE FRAME, AND POWER MEANS HAVING OPERATIVE INTERCONNECTION WITH THEFRAME OPERATED AUTOMATICALLY BY THE ACT OF A PERSON ENTERING AND LEAVINGAN ESTABLISHED TRAFFIC ZONE INCLUDING SAID ENTRANCE OPENING FORRESPECTIVELY SLIDING THE FRAME AND DOOR OUT OF AND INTO A POSITIONCLOSING SAID OPENING.